Art of working dusty fields



Alg. 5. 1924. 1,503,641

c. c. DAvls ART oF wfoRKING Dus'rY FIELDS :filed .my 24 v 1920 Charles Gass Davis.

Q//gwwwq Federated Aug. 5, 19524.

Util

CHARLES CASSA@ DAVIS, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

' ART OF WORKING DUSTY FIELDS.

Application filed July 24, 1920. Serial No. 398,737.

To all whomz't 'may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES CAssAT Davis, a citizen of the United States, residing at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Ange-les and State of rCalifornia, have invented a new and useful Improvement in the Art oit l/Vorking Dusty Fields, of which the following is a specification.

This invention is particularly intended t0 be used in connection with tractors in dusty Y soils.

In the Antelope, Imperial, and other valleys of California, aswell as in other western and Southwestern States, the tractor has Ycome into large use for plowing and cultivating fields in which the soil is made up to a greater or less extent of an impalpable dust which is stirred vup by grousers on the trac-tion wheels and forms a blinding cloud that envelops the machine and the driver and in some instances is almost intolerable; tending to clog the lungs and cause allections ot the eyes and ot the mucous membrane. Such clouds ot' dust are also produced to a large eXtentin the operations of plowing and cultivating with teams and until my present invention there has appeared to be no remedy.

In seeking` for a remedy I have discovered that the cloud of dust immediately around the tractor Vor a team is limited as to height and` my invention comprises broadly the provision of a canopy or cover closed at iront, back and sides extending. from the tractor :trame upward to a level above that to which the dust rises, and providing said canopy or cover at the top with ventilating means to admit pure air; the Ylower part ot the enclosure being provided with an outlet for such air.

I make provision whereby a. downward air pressure is maintained within the canopy, cab or cover, and such pressure may be produced by any suitable means as a venti lating tan; but in actual practice such means for producing a pressure is provided by an arrangement of automatic valves which are preferably li aps acted upon by the wind whereby air enters the top at the windward side of the cover and escapes at the bottom ot the cover, thus holdingdown and driving out any dust that otherwise would enter the space around the driver and the mechanism of the tractor.

The invention is broadly new, basic and primary in that I provide a tractor with a cab extending above the dust level which is common to the tractor in its operation in dusty fields, and provide the cab abovel said level with means to supply air to the interior of the cab; said cab being provided with an outlet at the bottom and otherwise normally closed, so that a down-dratt from top to bottom of the cab is produced for the purpose of excluding dust trom the tractor driver and from the mechanism ot the tractor.

Another feature of the invention resides in the arranging of oppositely disposed valved air inlets; each being provided with a. flap adapted to be opened by wind pressure or ordinary disturbances of the atmosphere upon the outside et the cab and closed by air pressure on the inside of said cab. Such an arrangement is also applicable to the ventilation of buildings ot larger and more pretentious character than the tractor cab, and may also be applied to minor uses and I do not limit the use of my invention to the tractor. Y

The principal object, however is to make the plowing and cultivating of dusty elds less disagreeable, diliicult and dangerous.

The invention comprises causing around a workman in a dusty field, a down-draft of air from the pure air above the dust level and excluding the dust from entering at '.he sides of such down-draft.

In this improvement I cause an air pressure around the workman by means of air introduced from the pure air zone above the dust level and relieve such pressure below the level of the workman thus excluding dust from the workman.

Other objects, advantages and features of invention may appear from the accompanying drawing, the subjoined detail description and the appended claim.

The accompanying drawing illustrates the invention.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of this invention applied to a tractor.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional elevation of the cab applied to a tractor which is diagrammatically indicated.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional detail of the Ventilating means at the top.

Fig. t is a cross section of the hood adapted to form the draft chamber underneath the tractor mechanism and supplied with air by the radiator fan of the tractor engine.

its walls with Ventilating means 3 adapted for the production of air pressure within the chamber et of the cab, and above the unobstructed draft outlet 5 in the vform of an opening in the bottom ot the chamber, said outlet opening from the chamber directly into the atmosphere below the cab. Said chamber 4 is oi' suliicient size to accommodate the driver of the tractor and is provided with a doorway 6, and a door G by which the doorway may be closed and opened by the driver. The door of the cab may be provided with a window as at 7' and the front wall ot the cab may also be provided with a window as at 8; said front window being adapted by means ot a handle 9 to be swung` 'forwardly into open position, whenever that may be desired. The

Awindows 7 and 8 are transparent to enable the driver to look through them; and other windows for the same purpose may be provided as desired.

In the drawing the cover or cab is shown as oblong extending from the rear end olf the tractor and intended to accommodate the driver. It may be made as roomy or as contracted'as the conditions or the pleasure of the constructor may make appropriate.

In the form shown in Figs. 1 and 2 the canopy comprises a trame constructed with corner posts 10 adapted to be held in sockets 11 with which the implement frame 12 is provided; and which sockets are adapted to hold the corner posts upright. Said corner posts torni the supports for the trame, and are connected together by any suitable forni of framing 12 to support the top 13 and walls let.

The flaps 15, 16, 17 and 18 are hinged at their upper edges to the frame and swing downwardly and out against the wall ot the cab to a perpendicular or closed position; and up and in, to open position.

The top 13 is preferably extended laterally'above the' ventilator openings so as to assist in directing the Awind into the ventilator openings,

The location of the drivers station 19 is pre-determined in the cab by suitable means as the drivers seat 2O and while theV driver is at his stationv and the wind is blowing from any. direction, the enclosureV will be kept free from dust. i g

In practical operation in dusty fields, the driver enters the cab to operate the tractor; and having closed the door and the window, will operate the tractor in the usual f'ay; thus causing the dust to arise as indicated in the drawing.

The wind blowing in any Vdirection against a Ventilating flap 15, 16, 17 or 18 will swing such flap in and allow the clear air to enter and produce pressure inside the cab. This pressure inds vent directly into the atmosphere at the bot-tom opening or outlet 5, the down draft thus produced prevents the dust from entering at the lower opening in the tioor ot the eab.

l claim: Y

The combination ol a tractor propelled agricultural appliance which Vin operation produces a cloud of dust; an enclosure on said appliance that is closed at the top, front, back and sides with the top extended above the dust level; of air inlets and flaps at the top ot' the front, back and sides of the enclosure, said flaps being arranged perpendicularly on the inside of the enclosure and adapted to be operated by the wind Vto open one or more oit the inlets inwardly, and by gravity and air pressure inside the enclosure to close the opposite flaps; and an air discharge outlet at the rear and through the bottom of said enclosure.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand at Los Angeles, California, this 16th day of July, 1920.

' CHARLES CASSAT DAVIS. lVitness:

JAMES R. TowNsEND. 

